The ideal breeding habitat for braided river birds is clear, open shingles in areas with nomammalian predators. Trialing different techniques, this is the habitat we are trying to create for the birds in the next year.

Currently we are monitoring 5black-fronted tern colonies – over 400 birds – in the river and have set up tracking tunnels to monitor mammalian predators on the banks and islands in the Waitaki. This is the baseline that we can use to compare data in the future.

While the outcome monitoring focuses on the breeding success of black-fronted terns, we hope there will be concurrent benefits for theblack-billed gullcolony and severalwrybill and banded dotterelnesting in the area. The overall aim is to develop recommendations for the better protection of braided river species.